Abstract

We propose a novel method for suppression of quasiparticle poisoning in Al Coulomb blockade devices. The method is based on creation of a proper energy gap profile along the device. In contrast to the previously used techniques, the energy gap is controlled by the film thickness. Our transport measurements confirm that the quasiparticle poisoning is suppressed and clear periodicity is observed only when the island is made much thinner than the leads. This result is consistent with the existing model and provides a simple method to suppress quasiparticle poisoning.

Received 04 March 2006Accepted 13 April 2006Published online 25 May 2006

Acknowledgments:

The authors would like to thank T. Duty, D. B. Haviland, H. Im, A. O. Niskanen, and M. Watanabe for fruitful discussions. This work was partially supported by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation.